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Monday, December 31, 2012

Welcome, Sarah. Tell us how much of
yourself you write into your characters.

Wow, starting off with a tough question! J
In hindsight, I suppose I write about women who struggle with their worthiness
and/or trying to be perfect. I’m aware of these things in my own life, which I
deal with in my relationship with God – but I don’t necessarily write about my
own experiences. Just the way maybe the female protagonist thinks or believes.

What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?

Oh my, I’m so NOT quirky! I’m very reserved, I’m really
thinking here and am coming up with nothing, isn’t that sad?

Everyone doesn’t have
to be quirky. When did you first discover that you were a writer?

About ten years ago, I had come to the end of reading every
Christian fiction book that appealed to me. I like to read stories which
contain the reality of life. I don’t mind happy endings, but that isn’t always
in the cards. I began taking writing courses and going to conferences, to see
if I could write the stories I wanted to read.

I love this question! I am a fanatic about researching out
my ancestors, I like to use their names as characters. I have a great-great
grandma with the name of Aurora,
and I knew I needed to use that one day. I did, my next work is a historical
western, where Aurora
fits perfectly!

What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Being a momma!

If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?

A bunny – they keep to themselves and who doesn’t love
Thumper?

What is your favorite
food?

Cheese and crackers.

What is the problem
with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

I don’t know about in general, but for Broken Identity, I had to
write from the husband’s POV. He was really broken at the time and I was
clueless and “blocked.” I got the idea to listen to Adele’s music, her forlorn,
passionate and beautiful lyrics pushed me passed that and his POV came pouring
out. It was definitely a mood which needed set.

Tell us about the
featured book?

I create my books on a “what if” basis, meaning, what if
this happens, or that? When I got to creating Broken Identity, the
label cougar was out for women liking younger men. Only it’s portrayed in a
comical light. For Mona Anderson, what if a Christian woman was tempted this
way? Does she not go through life feeling frumpy or ever get encouraged by
flattery? From there, I knew I had to write this, Christian women are the same
as other women. We don’t have a pre-built wall of protection against the
world’s seduction. Now, our hope is we don’t fall, but then this wouldn’t have
been a story.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

People
say one of the main reasons someone has an affair is the result of an unhappy
marriage. But as Mona Anderson looked over her family’s healthy dinner of
roasted chicken, wild rice and steaming broccoli, and into her husband’s kind
eyes, she couldn’t disagree with that analogy

more.
There was nothing in Brian Anderson that should ever cause her to go out and
look for comfort in the arms of another man. Nothing. Even knowing that there
was no such thing as a perfect husband, she’d argue with anyone on God’s green
earth that her husband pretty much fit the bill of being as perfect as a human
could be. Each time she caught herself appraising Brian with deep adoration,
the pit of her stomach would constrict with the agonizing memory of six

months
prior, and it all crudely crashed down, interrupting the false world she was
desperate to live in.

Thank you, Sarah, for the interesting interview.Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.Broken Identity - paperbackBroken Identity - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

My salvation experience is nothing dramatic. I was
eleven-years-old and wearing a red twill cotton dress to church that Sunday
morning. It was my favorite dress. We had a special guest speaker. I don’t
remember what he said, and, though I’d been hearing the gospel in my church for
a couple of years, something clicked in my head, and I answered the call to go
to the altar and make a commitment to Christ. Sadly, about ten years later, I
fell away for many years, and I never forgot that commitment, and the Lord drew
me back to Him.

I think that most of
us, who accepted the Lord as our Savior as a young child, had a falling away
time. I did, too. But praise the Lord, He never falls away from us and He never
lets us go. Now you’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four
other authors. Who would they be and why?

This is difficult to answer, since I don’t want to hurt
anyone’s feelings out of all my writing buddies, and, in no particular order,
I’ll have to say:

Gina Welborn because she’s good at nailing the heart of a
story, and in all her chatter, gets one’s own brain power working.

Patty Smith Hall because she understands romance plots like
nobody else I know.

Marylu Tyndall because she has this way of keeping me
spiritually grounded.

Louise Gouge because… Well, she was the first published
author to actually believe I had enough going in the writing thing that she
thought I, of all people, could help her, of all people. Ha! And she’s just
been my friend for going on a lot of years now.

My true retreat would have the rest of my writing prayer
partners at it, too. They know who they are.

That question often
opens my readers to even more authors that they haven’t read. Do you have a
speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

Yes, I do have a speaking ministry. Although I do speak to
writers organizations and to library groups about writing, my true ministry is
discussing the true meaning of faith and other inspirational subjects to
everywhere from women’s groups, to homeschool groups.

What is the most
embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

You know, I hate being embarrassed to a nearly pathological
point, so work hard to avoid such situations. This possibly dates back to when
I was in college and said something about the poor quality of a fellow
students’ reading. I didn’t know she was standing right behind me.

What else could I do but apologize and tell her I am a twit
and rude and remind myself to be careful what I say of others.

People are always
telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you,
too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

Most people say they’d write a book if they had the time. I
explain that writing is a commitment, and if they really want to write that
book, they will make the time—give up a couple of favorite TV shows or their
lunch hour, or get up earlier in the morning… The only way to get a book
written is to sit in that chair and write it. I also tell them that if they are
serious, they might want to join a writers organization to learn a few things
about the craft and the business. Nowadays, with popping a book onto Amazon so
relatively easy, people don’t realize that they still need to know the writing
business to go anywhere.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Choices of the Heart is the third book in The Midwives series,
which began with Lady in the Mist,
and then went on to Heart’s Safe Passage.

Esther Cherrett is the daughter of Tabitha and Dominick from
Lady in the Mist. The year is 1842,
and Esther, who has the feminine version of her fathers stunning looks, and her
mother’s gift for helping the sick and distressed, has a tragic experience that
sends her running for the hills—literally. She is determined to leave her
family behind so the scandal will die down, and she can maybe forget one day.
But she finds herself in the middle of a family feud in western Virginia, courted by two
young men on either side of the conflict, and her past has caught up with her.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Seabourne, Virginia, April 1842

Esther Cherrett removed the sketchbook from her satchel and
lifted it to the highest shelf in the armoire. She didn't need pictures of men
whose form existed simply in her imagination's portrayals, in colored
chalks—not where she was going. And drawings of her family would only make her
sad. Make her feel guilty.

She didn't need the satchel either. Its packets of herbs,
rolls of bandages, and canvas apron for protecting her dresses during a
lying-in would be of as little use in her new position as were the drawings.
She started to hoist it up to the shelf too, but her arms shook as though the black
leather bag weighed a hundred pounds instead of ten, and she let it drop.

It landed on the blue floral rug with a thud. The latch
sprang open and poked up like an accusing finger. You shouldn't be doing this,
it seemed to say in the voice of Letty O'Tool, the eldest congregant in the
church. You aren't answering to your calling.

Esther snapped the latch back into place, then popped it
open again, retrieved the sketchbook from its shelf, and shoved it amongst the
instruments of the profession she had determined to leave behind in Seabourne.
Leave behind with the scorn and ridicule she’d faced over the past four months.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Norma S (OH) is the winner of As You Are at Christmasby Davalyn Spencer.Anna W (GA) is the winner of Soul's GatebyJames L Rubart.Cheryl (IL)is the winner of Sagebrush Knightsby Erica Vetsch.Gillian (TX)is the winner of Deadly Additive by Donn Taylor.Sharon M (CA) is the winner of Where the Trail Ends by Melanie Dobson. (I loved this book.)Mary P (Aus) is the winner of The Christmas Stalking by Lillian Duncan. If you won a book and you like it, consider giving the author the courtesy of writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, or other Internet sites. Also, tell your friends about the book ... and this blog. Thank you.

Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.If you won the ebook, just let me know what email address it should be sent to.When you contact me, please give the title of the book you won, so I won't have to look it up.

Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.If you didn't win and you plan to order the book, please use the link provided on the individual interview. By using that link when you order, you will help support this blog.

Friday, December 28, 2012

As a Christian writer, I want to provide a good wholesome
read that my readers can enjoy and trust. To me this is the most important
aspect of my writing. My readers won’t have to sift through gratuitous sex, cursing,
and over-the-top violence. In my books, someone usually dies, but I don’t go
into gruesome detail. But I do love to shock with the unsuspected. To surprise
the reader and send them down dead ends where the antagonist is concerned is
great fun. And if I can keep the reader from knowing who is the killer until
the very end … all the better.

Also, I have always loved suspense. I grew up with Alfred
Hitchcock movies and would sometimes shiver and shake at the images he produced,
and go to bed with his nightmares. ;-) When I started writing, my mind
naturally gravitated to a suspenseful story. I love for good to triumph over evil, which in my books is always the case.

Besides when you came
to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

The day that I said I
do to my handsome knight. He rode into my life one day on his trusty white
steed (a 1961 white British Ford) and swept me off my feet. And I have never
regretted saying yes.

How has being
published changed your life?

I believe being published has made my life more hectic with
its ups and downs. I love the ride of being a published author but there is
always another deadline to meet, another edit to do, another push for
marketing—the list goes on and on. And working a fulltime job doesn’t leave me
with much time. So I would say, if all I had to do was to write the book and
someone else did all the other routine business side of publication, I’d be in
heaven.

What are you reading
right now?

I’m between books right now with my deadline looming, but if
I get a moment during Christmas holiday to read, I’ve downloaded A Biltmore Christmas – four short
stories which should be a fun, fast read.

I loved that book. What
is your current work in progress?

I am presently working on The Chameleon, my next book in the “Texas Sorority Sisters”
stand-alone series. This book is Veronica (Roni) Reeves’ story and will take the
reader from Dallas to Athens, Texas.
The Chameleon has unrequited love,
two murders, and a half brother that no one knew existed, and will be released
in spring 2012.

What would be your
dream vacation?

South Seas’ Islands. Since
I was a little girl, again watching movies like South Pacific and other grand movies depicted on a deserted
island—natives only of course, and having read Hawaii I have always wanted to visit those islands. However, I
believe I will be sorely disappointed, as I was when we visited Hawaii, because I know the
islands will be commercialized and not the uncomplicated lifestyle portrayed in
the movies of bygone years—such is life. :-0

How do you choose
your settings for each book?

As for my Texas Sorority Sisters series, Texas is my inspiration. I love the feel and
appeal of small Texas
towns and their charm, the countryside brimming with life, the beauty, and the wide
open spaces. And we have so many varied towns to pick from which makes it easy
to visualize and incorporate into my stories.

With my first book, however, Serenity’s Deception, I chose a fictitious town that just popped
into my mind. It just felt right to plant the story in the Texas Hill Country down
around Austin and Brenham (the Blue Bell Ice Cream fame). I apparently did such
a good job with the town that one man asked my husband where in Texas was Serenity? He said
he would like to visit Serenity and see where the story took place. My husband
had a good laugh and said, it’s in
Janice’s head.

Lethal Intent takes place in real cities—Austin and Dallas,
which having lived in Dallas since I arrived in Texas, too long ago to
remember, the story just seemed right and natural for me.

The Chameleon takes
place in a lovely small Texas town—Athens, Texas—about seventy miles east of
Dallas, surrounded by ranch land, small lakes, and rolling hills and, go
figure—New York Texas (what an oxymoron) Cheesecake factory, boasted as one of the
best in Texas. When I tried to come up with a town, east Texas
was where I had in mind, but for the longest couldn’t settle on a town until I
thought of Athens,
and it fit.

If you could spend an
evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Laura Bush. In my opinion, she is a class act. She’s the
epitome of graciousness and of how a real lady should act under fire. I’d love
to pick her brain on her many transitions in life and if she were to do it over
again—would she?

What are your
hobbies, besides writing and reading?

When I have the time, I love to paint—oil, acrylic, or water,
it doesn’t matter. As with my writing, I can be lost for hours creating
beautiful sunsets, flowers, and other things. I also love to do all kinds of crafty
ideas. I made all the flower arrangements for Christmas as I do for other
occasions and as gifts for friends.

What is your most
difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

My most difficult writing obstacle is finding the time to
write. Working fulltime doesn’t afford me the opportunity to write for long
hours which I wish possible. But I’m thankful for the time and how God blesses
me to jump right back into my story, utilizing the small increments of time
available to me to accomplish a lot.

What advice would you
give to a beginning author?

Attending writing clinics, workshops, and conferences are
very important for success as a writer. And don’t stop there. Join a writer’s
group. I am president of DFW Ready Writers (DFW WR), a chapter of American
Christian Fiction Writers. Each month, DFW RW offers a speaker or workshop that
helps hone the writers’ craft. Another must is to find a writing partner or
writers’ critique group who, in love, will be brutally honest when something
doesn’t work in your story or help you correct what you’re doing wrong so you
may grow. As one of my writer friends often says and I repeat here, I’d rather
have my feelings hurt by my writer friends than to be exposed as a terrible writer
by the world.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Lethal Intent is about Madison Fletcher who has lost her
husband and unborn child to a madman’s bullets. When the suspect is set free, Madison decides to flee Austin
to Dallas to a
father she has never met and has learned to hate for his neglect.

When she finds a love interest, she fights the attraction
out of fear. After attaining a modicum of security in Dallas,
Madison learns the
killer has found her and still wants her dead.

During Madison’s
fight to stay alive, she has to work through the issues of hatred, abandonment,
and retribution for wrongs done.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Lethal Intent

“Not guilty.”

Gasps were heard
around the courtroom. Judge Colby’s hard scowl and banging gavel brought an unsettling
hush among the spectators.

Numb, horrified,
the words thundered inside Madison Fletcher’s head as the ceiling fans clacked and
whined, mocking her. She wanted to scream bitterly at the injustice of the
verdict. Instead, she held her breath.

Judge Colby
repeated the litany of words, rendering another not guilty. He called for the third and final verdict. The
foreperson took a deep breath, uttered a repetitive not guilty, then sat down as though a weight had been lifted from
her shoulders.

The courtroom
erupted as a death knell pealed over in Madison’s
soul.

The judge banged
his gavel loud and insistent causing a semblance of order.

She gulped air
into her starved lungs, as her friend, Kelly Vandergriff, patted her arm. Madison clung to Kelly’s
hand as if it were a rope, a lifeline pulling her up from an abyss that
threatened to swallow her whole.

This isn’t justice. Her head angled
downward. Her heart plummeted in utter defeat as her life seemed to shatter
into a million pieces. How could this happen?

Quite a hook there,
Janice. How can readers find you on the Internet?

They can go to my Website: www.JaniceOlson.com, or email me: Janice@JaniceOlson.com. Also they can
find my books, Serenity’s Deception
and the new release Lethal Intent at
Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for the Nook and Kindle. The trade paperback
will be available on the 10th. Also, for registering at my site, their name
will be entered into a drawing that one person will be selected to receive one
lovely wooden jewelry box.

Thank you, Lena. Once again
it has been a pleasure doing this interview for you and your readers.

Dare to believe in the impossible. Mark 9:23Thank you, Janice for sharing this book with us.Readers, I was privileged to get to edit this book. It is amazing. I love Janice's writing and her suspenseful plots and characters. Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Thursday, December 27, 2012

I write no more of myself into my
characters than is absolutely necessary to propel the story. Only three
personal traits define all characters 1) humans are fundamentally flawed (from
Original Sin) 2) God has a plan for every single life but still allows free
will and 3) everyone can receive and needs forgiveness. A story should advance
itself through the characters’ actions and decisions with as minimal affect
from my own predispositions.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Typical original material writing
bursts occur in one to three thousand word spans of epiphany. Whether it is the
quirkiest thing I’ve ever done or continue doing is up to your definition of
quirky. I can’t write without fruit. Yes, I am serious – one banana, one orange,
and one apple followed by a cup of the strongest Earl Gray I can brew. My wife,
Donna, can recognize that look in my eye without even asking, knowing a trip
through the Produce Department is as important as the electricity running
through my laptop. It started in my college days when I lived on no more than
$30.00 for the entire week and a sort of subconscious connection formed. It
becomes a particular challenge when traveling abroad or at the oddest
imaginable hours.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I’ve written stories almost as
early as I began reading them. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to
write. Moving around the country so frequently and sharing the back seat of our
Ford LTD station wagon with my brother, I was forced to keep myself occupied
without the assistance of today’s electronic amusements. So, I did what I
thought everyone else did – read.

The earliest days were filled with
small newsprint paperback cartoon collections of Peanuts comic strips. I read
and reread for hours straight, learning a vocabulary including such words as
“opthamologist,” “agoraphobia,” and “wishy-washy” by the time I was seven years
old. I made friends with ease wherever we traveled but the one constant
companion I always knew would be there regardless of geography was a good book.
Then, I graduated from comic strips to science fiction sometime around the
sixth grade – Verne, Asimov, Bradbury, and my favorite Robert Heinlein. The
constant changing environments and new people entering and leaving my
adolescence brought subconscious writing contributions. Like most others who
find a need to express themselves through the written word, I finally reached
the perspective where I believed that I could tell stories better or at least
as well as what I read at the time.

That’s why I wrote my first book, too. Tell us the range of the kinds
of books you enjoy reading.

I enjoy the gamut of fiction genres
from Classical to Contemporary including domestic and international authors. Any
book offering illumination or a unique uplifting perspective – something that
teaches as well as entertains. Unfortunately, the world teems with mediocre
secular fiction where dysfunctionalism and social immaturity appear as sole
driving motivations. My reader is trusting his or her time in my novel and, if
successful, the story should provide some degree of previous unrecognized
insight. If I am going to invest those countless hours of keyboard isolation,
then the reader should gain even more than my own investment.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

Never get frustrated by attempting
to change events beyond my control. God has a plan and purpose for every one of
our lives. We all need to make conscious decisions to stop both physically and
mentally, for at least five minutes a day to breathe, pray, and offer
undistracted quiet contemplation. My children offer moments of clarity at the
most unexpected moments. My family and I were leaving church service one
evening. My youngest son Paul, who is four going on fourteen, adores his older
sister. Possessing an entire additional year of living – Elizabeth is his world. We negotiated our way
through the crowd of post service congregation after picking them up from
children’s church and waited at the parking lot crosswalk. My wife commented on
a group of approaching fire trucks and Elizabeth
stared with wide-eyed focused fascination. Paul strained and jumped to see
without success. Elizabeth
informed him that he was just too little and needed to wait until he was older.
Paul looked up at me and I saw tears begin welling in his eyes while he
hesitated, uncertain to ask a question. Finally, he blurted out, “Daddy, I
wanna on your arm tops to see.” Of course I lifted him up over my head to perch
where he grinned from ear to ear at the passing siren roar. When the world
doesn’t seem to offer any answers you want to hear, never be afraid to ask up
on your Father’s shoulders.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Many believe character naming
should be some clever allusion to specific character traits or overall
storyline role. My selection remains much more basic and relative to
individuals I’ve known or how my own past experiences with certain figures best
fitting the story.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

My family. No matter how this world
does or will define achievement, my own father instilled in me a fundamental
perspective I pray I can pass to my own children. Prioritize God first, family
second (if you are doing the first, the second is a natural by-product), and
work third. If I can always strive to be the best father and husband I know
how, I will have accomplished all that I will ever need.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

I attempt envisioning myself as a
state of every animal at any given time. It is not necessarily the type of
animal rather than the animal stage. A young bear cub, a fledgling duck, or a
new born wolf pup – I am them all. I am in a constant state of awe and wonder. I
want to learn and absorb every gift of experience that God presents in this
life. The newness of youth retains the characteristics of humility, concern,
trust, and has not been tainted with the natural cynicism of advanced
experience. If I should ever reach a point in this world’s life when I have
forgotten this fundamental concept, then I would cease living as a human and
exist as nothing more than an animal.

What is your favorite food?

I have two equal favorite
categories – TexMex and Chinese. TexMex offers bold, intense flavors with a
full range of textures while Chinese offers an extensive variety. However, my
most specific favorite food is bread. I learned how to make bread from my
grandmother when I could barely see over the countertop. There is a humbling
therapy in activating the yeast, hand kneading the dough, and baking at just
the right temperature while the aroma penetrates throughout the house.

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and
how did you overcome it?

Every author can identify with
sitting down behind the keyboard or staring at a blank sheet of paper waiting
for ideas to catch up with willpower. There will always be laundry, the sink
will always have a dirty dish or two (and many more if you are blessed to have
two toddlers and a teenager in the house), and errands to run. Quite often, the
one to three thousand or so words I write at a setting rarely fulfill the
initial inspirational flash. The most efficient method to eliminate a roadblock
is to allow the words themselves to become the bulldozer. If you have strong,
bold characters (or at least traits suitable to their characterization), their
interactions between one another and their environment can take you in
directions not originally foreseen. Do not raise your expectations so high that
the only result will be disillusionment – take it easy on yourself. The Gilded
Prospect was rewritten thirty-two times but through perseverance and
the belief in the ministry of the novel, a conclusion was attained.

Tell us about the featured book.

Charlie’s
daughter, Charlotte, is terminally ill and even though he and his wife Karen
don’t know how much longer she will live, he sacrifices
whatever time they may have remaining to pursue the slimmest of chances to save
her. Just laid off and already financially exhausted from medical bills, he
needs a miracle. Charlie was abandoned by his father at a young age after the
cancer death of his mother, instilling an enormous amount of bitterness and
anger. Charlie’s father reappears just before his grandfather’s funeral. Charlie’s
relationship to his earthly father is much like the relationship many
Christians have with our Heavenly Father – strained at times, often forgetful,
and filled with lingering questions of understanding why certain events occur. After
the death of his grandfather, Karen discovers the Alaskan gold rush journal of
his great great grandfather, Absalom, and the enormous fortune he hid. Charlie
decides to pursue the gold in an effort for Charlotte’s life-saving treatments. Enlisting
the accompaniment of his best friend George, they set out and encounter much
hardship and self-doubt. They meet up with Charlie’s Great Uncle Tyler, still
living s hermit’s life in an old Klondike log
cabin, who questions the sanity of their quest. Realizing he is helpless to
disillusion them, Uncle Tyler requests the son of his best friend, a Tlingit
Indian, guide them to the mine containing Absalom’s gold. During the course of
their adventures and challenges, Charlie discovers something even more valuable
than gold.

The Gilded
Prospect
is an essential Christian allegory – In order to gain everything, you must
first demonstrate enough faith to sacrifice everything. The novel can be summed
in a single word – control. We, as human beings, possess a profound conceit
that we control our own destinies. Yes, freewill is part of God’s design,
however, that freewill does not supersede His master plan for each and every
one of us. Sorry to say that even many Christians, although consciously
striving towards the One, still become desensitized in day to day secular
minutiae. That is Charlie’s ultimate choice, and ours. We must be in a state of
constant choice. When the walls are collapsing around us and only seconds
remain for our decision, “Who’s rope are we going to pull up?”

Please give us the first page of the book.

Snohomish
County, Washington

Today

Charlie no
longer sensed his feet. He passed the same broken fence slats he had been
promising Karen he would fix for almost a year. Foofoo’s unchanged, darkened
dog house remained slanted in One-Eyed Chamber’s yard across Milford Street, vacant from the cocker
spaniel’s death last spring after too many tennis ball chases into evening
traffic.

The
constant, almost barren maple still retained its tapered fingers stretching
into a late-night sky. His feet shifted toward another route, down to the
pavement’s end, and right toward the river. At this late evening’s hour, most porch
lights were dark. Only one or two windows glowed with a single lamp's
illumination or a television’s blue glow beyond closed-eye snoring. A cat
darted from a low-cut hedgerow with a quick-crunch, dry-leaf flash, and Charlie
didn’t offer the slightest reaction.

Karen’s
distorted expressions of concern, blueprint patterns in his subconscious,
churned his concentration. He realized that no phone calls would raise
suspicion. There was no word choice or delivery method, just intimate tonal
knowledge transmitting the event. Synapses cracked and sizzled with cascading
images and how to compact so much into a single word, sentence, or expression.

Autumn air
suspended silence without a single fluttering sway past quiet cottages and
ancient plots; a star array across the vast night sky spun him in
disorientation. In the valley below, a single, blinking neon light flashed with
intermittent bursts among fast-food incandescent signs and streetlamps. From
his considerable distance, Charlie recognized the pinpoint lights set at
regular intervals around the yard's chain-link fence. Fourteen years passed
during the half minute he stared down, recognizing the forklifts and stacks
still moving around the kilns. Every moment, both inane and what seemed
critical in the passage of his years, was clothed in the same blue uniform
jumpsuit of Deen and Sons Lumber. Even now, the day’s pine resin still clung to
his nasal passages.

A blaring
horn shocked Charlie, and he leapt to the roadside ditch, unaware of his drift
toward the median. An upward glance contrasted almost naked sycamores against
the stars. Their thin black bodies rose with upward-slashing illusion while
Charlie waited for a single, thin tendril of shadow to curl down and reach
across his throat. Darker leaves scattered across the front lawns were browner,
the night sky more vast, and his little angel’s red cheeks that much farther
away.

He
descended a hill toward the MalcolmC.JayMemorialBridge.
The ancient iron span was early 1920s construction for Western National Passage
hauling timber into downtown yards. Even after years of abandonment for faster,
sleeker, newer, more efficient modes of transportation, it was the longest
county commission demolition tabling due to insufficient funds.

How can readers find you on the Internet.

The best
starting point is my website at www.philthurmanfiction.com.
The novel is available in soft copy, hardback, and every available e-reader
platform. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ChristianBooks.com, and too many more to
list carry The Gilded Prospect. It is fascinating to Google search and
find availability on German, Japanese, Australian, East Indian, and many more
International book retailers.

Thank you, Phil, for the interesting interview.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Being a quilter myself, I was very interested when I heard about this new Quilts of Love series. Then I had the privilege to read a few of them for endorsement, this being one of them. I love this story.

Welcome, Jennifer. God has really been
moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

True. Often God brings surprises that we do not expect.
Recently, my husband gave up a 10 year business and thought it was for a change
in his career, but since our daughter began having seizures and entered high
school, and faced increasing challenges, we came to understand that he was home
for a reason. After a semester in high school, we decided he would homeschool
her. We fought the decision, but once it was made, a peace came over the both
of us that we could not explain. God needs us to be obedient and flexible. We
are stepping out in this direction on complete faith.

Tell us a little
about your family.

We only have one child,
so we are a small family of 3. Our daughter has Epilepsy, which disappeared for
10 years and came back during her adolescent years due to a hormone imbalance.
A few months ago she was also diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and suddenly
everything is starting to make sense. It is a developmental disorder, not a
mental disorder, and Celina’s case is very mild. Prior to her diagnosis, I
thought of Rainman when I heard of Autism, but our daughter is high functioning
and you would never know it unless you spent several days with her. She is
nothing like Rainman. We are still learning all the various components, but one
thing we have discovered is that she likes a set routine.

I’ve been around
several children with Asperger’s Syndrome, and my brother has one grandson with
the disorder. I’m so glad you and your husband are able to take the needed time
with her. Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

Yes, I read less. I don’t have as much time to read for
pleasure as I would like.

What are you working
on right now?

I am working on The
War Woman, the 2nd book in the MacGregor Quest series. It is set
in Wilmington, North Carolina, during the American
Revolutionary War. I’m trying to stay true to specific events that took place
during that time, but create a place and purpose for my characters. I want my
readers to experience a measure of faith, romance, and mystery.

What outside
interests do you have?

I enjoy parasailing over the ocean and horseback riding when
I get the chance. Last year on my birthday, my husband’s gift was for my
daughter and I to go horseback riding on the Biltmore Estate. Since my birthday
is October 30th, the fall colors of the trees were beautiful. It was
a wonderful gift. I love traveling and visiting historical sites. I wish the
opportunity for this was more often in our lives.

I really want to
visit Biltmore sometime. What is the one thing you wish you had known before
you started writing novels?

That it would be a poor person’s profession—much like a
starving artist. I had hoped that once I achieved publication, I would be able
to transition to part-time work, but now I realize that is very unrealistic so
I have accepted my fate and know I will continue working full-time to help pay
the bills until retirement—or close to retirement.

And I’m doing it during
retirement. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

That God is in control regardless of my past experiences,
expectations, and fears. When my husband gave up his job, we feared we wouldn’t
be able to make ends meet with my salary, but God has provided in numerous
ways. I have received unexpected bonuses from my job, freelance work through my
company Upon the Rock Publicist,
my writing, and other things that God has gifted to us. We have not lacked for
anything.

We learned that about
halfway through our adult life thus far. It’s such a freeing realization. What
are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

1)Never give up

2)Promote yourself
before publication and continue after publication

3)Don’t have unrealistic expectations

Tell us about the
featured book.

Path of Freedom, releases January 2013 and begins in Greensborough, North
Carolina, in 1858. When Quakers Flora Saferight and
Bruce Millikan embark on the Underground Railroad, they agree to put their
differences aside to save the lives of a pregnant slave couple. With only her
mother’s quilt as a secret guide, the foursome follows the stitches through
unknown treachery. As they begin their perilous journey, they hope and pray
that their path is one of promise where love sustains them, courage builds
faith, and forgiveness leads to freedom.

Please give us the first
page of the book.

A shiver of excitement rushed through Flora Saferight at the
thought of their upcoming trip to Virginia.
It had been at least two years since she’d seen her aunt and uncle, and even
then they had traveled as a family by wagon. Now she and her younger sister
would be making the trip by train.

“I think this is sensible for our journey.” Standing in
Gilmer General Store, Irene held up a red shawl with a lining. Her blue eyes shone
bright in the hope of Flora’s approval. Blond curls framed Irene’s heart-shaped
face beneath her white bonnet. With a delicate nose and smooth skin heightened
by a blush of enthusiasm, Irene was considered the beauty between them.

“Mother would prefer a sensible cloak,” Flora said. “Charlottesville can get
awfully cold in the fall.”

Her sister bit her bottom lip and lowered her gaze in
disappointment. A dramatic sigh slipped from her lips. Flora glanced around the
general store and spied a rack of cloaks in the far corner by the front
counter.

“Why not try one of those?” She pointed beyond a table
displaying hats and bonnets, hoping to lift Irene’s spirits. “Since we don’t
have time to make a new cloak and thee has grown out of thy clothes from last
winter, I’m sure Mother would approve.”

“True.” A bright smile lit Irene’s face as she sailed over
to investigate. “Now that I’m taller than thee, I won’t be inheriting thy
clothes.”

The shop door opened, ringing the tiny bell at the top.

“Good morning,” Mrs. Edwards, the store clerk, called from
where she stood on a small stepping stool, stacking bolts of fabric on the wall
shelves.

“Morning.” Bruce Milikan stepped inside wearing a white
buttoned shirt, tucked into a pair of black trousers. His reddish blond hair
lay against his neck beneath his tall black hat. Heat pooled in the pit of
Flora’s stomach. She took a deep breath, eager to escape before he noticed her.

Bruce glanced back to ensure the door closed properly. Flora
gulped and turned, taking advantage of his momentary distraction to hurry
behind a shelf of oil lanterns.

“Flora Saferight!” His deep voice flowed over her like
bittersweet honey before she reached her destination. She waited for the sting
of a familiar insult. Other girls may have enjoyed his teasing and attention
growing up, but she hadn’t. She closed her eyes, cringing as his booted
footsteps charged across the wooden floor.

“Flora?”

She clenched her teeth and forced a smile as she squared her
shoulders and prepared to greet him. Staring stared into his broad chest, Flora
had to lean back to gaze into those amazing green eyes. When had he grown so
tall?

The freckles she remembered had faded beneath a ruddy
complexion and a slight tan. A smile eased his lips, revealing straight
teeth—too perfect in her opinion. If only he would smile a little wider, then
she’d have the satisfaction of seeing the gaping hole on his left side. Too bad
a fall from a tree had been responsible, for she would have dearly loved to
claim the honor—especially after he‟d teased her about her two front teeth.

What was wrong with her? Guilt sliced through Flora. Her
thoughts were much too bitter for a proper Quaker. They had been children.
Still, all his barbed words had cut her to the core and continued to sting like
a nasty bee buzzing around inside her soul. “Good morning, Bruce Milikan. I
wasn’t aware thee was back in town.”

It had been eight months since she’d last seen him, but she
did her best to avoid him prior to that.

“I arrived home a fortnight ago.” He blinked and his smile
waned. “For a moment, I thought thee might be trying to avoid me.”

Flora lifted her chin and met his gaze. “Do I look like I’m
avoiding thee?” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him with
what she hoped was her best disapproval.

“Goodness, Bruce Milikan, thee acts as if I knew thee would
walk right through that door. Since when has thee known me to back down from
anything?”

His lips curled as two thin lines framed each side of his
mouth into a smile. He shook his head in slow motion. “No, Beaver Face, no one
could ever accuse thee of ignoring a challenge.” He shook his head with a reminiscing
chuckle. “Thee is the most headstrong girl I’ve ever known—and foolhardy at
times.” He folded his arms and stared down at her as if she were still a
wayward child.

“Foolhardy? Beaver Face? Really Bruce, one would hope thee
would eventually grow up and leave the childhood name calling behind.” Flora
bristled, heat searing through her boiling blood as it scalded her heart. “We
may only be a year apart in age, but thee hasn’t changed one bit.”

“Come on, Flora, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s more of an
endearment now.” He stepped closer, leaning forward. “The rest of thy teeth
have grown in and are now perfect.” He glanced behind him as if to see if
anyone else was listening. “I’m sorry. I wish I’d never called thee that. I’ve
sure spent the rest of my days paying for it.”

She stepped back, too confused by his nearness and stunned
by his apology. Flora swallowed, clearing her mind. The childhood taunts she
could forgive, but the idea that he would insinuate she’s foolish when she’d
worked so hard to become a proper young lady of eighteen, chafed her?

“Apparently, thee isn’t sorry. For thee just called me
foolhardy. I’ll have thee know, there’s a good doctor in Virginia who thinks
very highly of me. As a midwife, he believes I’ll compliment him his practice
rather well.” Clint Roberts had only mentioned it once in a letter, but she
chose to interpret his words to mean that. No need in letting Bruce know she
exaggerated.

“What doctor?” The light left his green eyes and his lips
dropped in a frown. “Is thee courting a doctor?” He shifted, placing his fists
at his side.

Irene walked over with a dark purple cloak draped over her
arm. The bell rang and a new customer walked in, greeting Mrs. Edwards.

“It’s true,” Irene said. “Flora met him two summers ago when
we were visiting our aunt and uncle. They’ve been corresponding ever since.”

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Monday, December 24, 2012

For several years, Lisa Buffaloe was one of the core members of the critique group that meets in my home. It was a sad day for me when she and her family moved to Idaho, but thank the Lord for the Internet and cell phones. We stay in contact through technology.

Welcome, Lisa. God has really been
moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

I’m working on a devotional book and also hope to complete
another novel in the new year.

Tell us a little
about your family.

I’m happily married and have one son. My husband and I were
told by doctors we couldn’t have children. However God had other plans and
blessed us with our wonderful son who is now twenty and stands at 6’ 8”. When
God does something, He does big things!

Has your writing
changed your reading habits? If so, how?

As a writer, reading has taken on new wonderful facets. I not
only read to learn and enjoy, but to study how other authors evoke emotions,
set a scene, or draw me into the story.

I’m now co-hosting a
monthly radio show, Gate Beautiful, and it has opened new horizons for me. What outside
interests do you have?

I enjoy working in the yard and exploring Idaho. We haven’t made it past about two
hours from our house because I make my sweet husband pull over every few
minutes to take photos. I think I’ve taken about 4000 pictures since we moved
here three years ago.

I have learned to love Idaho, though I've never been there, through the pictures you put on your blog. How do you choose
your settings for each book?

The characters seem to come with their own settings. I
usually use areas of the country where I have lived or places I have traveled.

If you could spend an
evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

Oswald Chambers. His passion for Christ was amazing. I would
love to sit and talk with him about our wonderful God.

His writings inspire
me as well. What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started
writing novels?

Opposition comes, but persistence is the key.

What new lessons is
the Lord teaching you right now?

To first and foremost spend my time with God, seeking His
guidance and following Him.

What are the three
best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Pray, read, and write.

Tell us about the
featured book.

My poor family has been summoned to dinner by the wailing
fire alarm more times than I care to publicly acknowledge. Grace for the Char-Baked
is a light-hearted novella about the kitchen-challenged.

Charlotte Wilson is the last person on earth who should run
a bake sale. With “Char” as a nickname, Charlotte’s
cooking skills are more incendiary than culinary. But when her plans of running
in a charity marathon are side-lined by a broken foot, her old flame’s
suggestion becomes a challenge midst her friend’s simmering doubts.

Luke Hammond has spent the last five years studying and
preparing to travel overseas as a medical missionary. When his high school
sweetheart unexpectedly comes back in his life, Luke wrestles with what he
feels God calling him to be and what he wants to do. His reappearance rekindles
an attraction that could char Luke and Charlotte’s heart or cook up the perfect
romance.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Charlotte Wilson jogged along the campus sidewalk. Gasp …
wheeze … gasp …wheeze. After last night’s cooking fiasco, her twenty-two-year
old lungs behaved like an eighty-year-old asthmatic. She could still smell the
smoke embedded in her sinuses. Amber and golden leaves dotted the ground as she
concentrated on her breathing, or rather concentrated on attempting to breathe.

Every cooking instrument known to
man was out to get her. Why couldn’t she even broil a steak without flames
shooting out of the stove? Obviously, the oven and the smoke alarm conspired
against her. The alarm practically went off any time she stepped in the
kitchen.

Charlotte sprinted around a guy with an
armload of books sleepwalking his way toward the student union building. She
gasped in a breath and kicked into high gear. Kathy needed her. At least by
participating in the Cancer Cure marathon, Charlotte could do something to help. With
two more weeks of training, she’d be ready to compete.

Her best friend was far too young
to have breast cancer. People their age shouldn’t face something like this.
Then again, no one should. Thankfully, Kathy’s lumpectomy had gone well. But
seven weeks of radiation were going to be rough.

Radiation sounded so nasty, so
negative. Why couldn’t they come up with some treatment that was actually appealing—like
putting a dose of cancer killer into chocolate or ice cream?

If she hurried, she could get back
home in time and make Kathy breakfast—perhaps an omelet with bacon, cheese,
mushrooms, and green peppers. Charlotte
sighed. Maybe she could create something like that in her dreams. When God
passed out the cooking genes, she was given a charcoal thumb—everything she
touched burned to a crisp.

The sun’s rays finally peeked over
the horizon. Charlotte
jogged up to the old craftsman-style home where she’d lived the last two years.
With the two-story dormer windows and the wide porch, the house seemed to wear
a perpetual smile—just like the original owner had worn up to her death. Mimi
Miller, Kathy’s grandmother, and best friend to Charlotte’s grandparents, had bequeathed the
property to Kathy. Mimi would always be missed. So many happy memories had been
made here. The house itself almost seemed huggable.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Welcome back, Melanie. Since I loved the first two books in this series, I've anxiously awaited the release of this book.God has really been
moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

God really has been moving! Very soon I should be able to
make an announcement about a new adult historical romance series with a great
Christian publisher, and I am hoping to write more Medieval fairy tale
retellings for Zondervan as well. I LOVE writing historical romance from a
Christian point of view, and I see myself doing it for many years to come.

Tell us a little
about your family.

I am married and have two wonderful daughters who make me
very proud to be their mom, one in high school and one entering middle school
next year. We like to make paper beads and necklaces and bracelets in our free
time.

Has your writing
changed your reading habits? If so, how?

I started reading Christian novels for the first time when I
started writing again almost ten years ago. I have always loved to read, and
while I used to mostly read the classics, I now mostly read books by
contemporary authors.

What are you working
on right now?

Right now I am working on a Regency novel that is my own
personal tribute to Jane Austen’s novels. My heroine’s situation is a cross
between Jane Fairfax’s situation in Emma,
and Fanny Price’s in Mansfield Park,
with a few of my own twists thrown in.

What outside
interests do you have?

I like to make paper beads with my daughters, I like to cook
and bake, and I love castles and medieval architecture.

How do you choose
your settings for each book?

My stories just seem to come to me with the setting already
intact. I love medieval settings and the romance of that time period, and
certain stories just seem to work for that setting. All of the stories I’ve
written so far have been inseparable from their setting, including my
Regencies. The setting is a big part of the story and the characters.

I love those kinds of
settings best. If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who
would it be and why?

Probably Jane Austen, because I think she would be witty and
fun and it would be fun to talk writing with her, as she is my favorite
novelist.

What is the one thing
you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

I wish I had known, way back in high school, that if I just
persevered, I would get published some day. Then I wouldn’t have stopped
writing for fifteen years.

What new lessons is
the Lord teaching you right now?

God is always teaching me to trust him more, and teaching me
what’s really important in life. God is also teaching me just how loved I am by
him and that he truly can satisfy me, and that I am important to him. That has
always been something I had a hard time believing, and for whatever reason, he
is really knocking that point home to me lately!

What are the three
best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Persevere, because only those who persevere succeed in this
tough business. Give up the lesser things, like watching TV or playing video
games, and make writing a priority. And third, pray and listen to God’s
leading.

Tell us about the
featured book.

In this young adult retelling
of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Melanie Dickerson, a woman arrives in
Hagenheim claiming the young woman betrothed to the duke’s son, Valten, is
still alive. With Valten injured, his younger brother, Gabe, defies his family
to find Sophie himself. When Gabe arrives at the castle, Sophie must make a
choice: go to the Cottage of the Seven and fend for herself, or trust the
handsome stranger who seems ready to do anything to keep her safe.

This is also a sequel to The Healer’s Apprentice, as the hero,
Gabe, is the son of Duke Wilhelm and Rose.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Prologue

Pinnosa passed
through the town square and the cobblestone Marktplatz.
HagenheimCastle loomed straight ahead. Once she
passed the guard at the gatehouse, she would need to find her way to the young
lord.

A chill
passed over her thin, old shoulders. This fever, brought on by rain and exhaustion,
would probably kill her, but if she could only make it to the castle, could
only tell them that Sophie was still alive, Pinnosa’s life would not have been
in vain. Perhaps God would forgive her for helping the duchess perpetuate so
many lies.

She plodded
forward, wanting to hurry, but she could only force her swollen feet to take
slow, mincing steps. Sweat dripped from her eyebrows even as she shivered and
fought the urge to drop to the ground, close her eyes, and sleep.

“Who goes
there?”

Pinnosa stopped,
then leaned her head back as far as she could. When she parted her cracked
lips, no sound came out. The guard’s face began to blur, her knees trembled,
and the ground quickly came up to meet her. Strange how she didn’t … even … feel
it.

Thank you for sharing your story and this story with us Melanie.Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.The Fairest Beauty - paperbackThe Fairest Beauty - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com